Dirty little secrets
by xxShonaNinjaxx
Summary: An innocent prank goes horribly wrong. What seems to be a simple accident could threaten Mello's foothold in Wammy. Unless he- or she- can stop it. Rated T for nonexplicit blood and genderswapping. Backstory one-shot for my Death Note/Matrix crossover.


The first thing I see is that I'm lying on the ground. I'm covered in miniscule scratches. The back of my head hurts like a bitch. I open my eyes. I'm lying on my side, surrounded by a web of tangled, thorn-covered branches. I rub my eyes. There's a voice calling my name. At least I think it's my name. It's so muffled I can't even be sure.

"…ello… youok… mello? MELLO!"

Shit. That is my name. I roll onto my back. My body screams in protest. I stare up through the branches to see someone sitting on top of a stone wall. I must have fallen from there. The person speaks again.

"Mello! Can you hear me?"

Rust-red hair, striped shirt, tinted goggles… Yep. That's Matt.

"Hang in there! I'm coming down!" He disappears.

I force myself to sit upright and try to remember exactly what just happened. Something about a fire, I think. Oh, yeah. There was no fire. We'd only hotwired the alarms. They all went off at once in the Edmund building. Everyone had run out onto the Wammy campus at once. We just sat back and watched them scramble. It was hilarious. At least, until we saw caretaker Angus running toward us with that look on his face. Then we'd taken off across campus. I must have not been looking where I was going. That must be how I ended up here.

I hear footsteps falling on the ground, slowly drawing closer. Hands reach through the brambles around me and drag me out onto the grass. I blink, squinting my eyes against the bright sunlight. A shadow falls directly across me. Matt is leaning over me. "Mello? Answer me!"

"Matt-" I cough a few times and manage to choke out a coherent sentence. "Matt, I'm okay."

A concerned look crosses his face. "Oh. Thank god you're not unconscious. That fall was pretty far." He kneels down next to me. "Come on. If Angus catches us again, we-" He falls silent.

"What?" I demand. "Is something wrong?"

Matt doesn't answer. It takes me a second to realize that he's staring at my chest. I look down. My entire body is scraped up. Blood is seeping through a million tiny cuts in my hands, elbows, pants and shirt-

Oh god. My _shirt_.

The fabric has been ripped completely through. My chest starts stinging like hell. My hand flies up to cover the hole in my shirt and lands in something wet, sticky and warm. I pull it back and look at my palm. It's covered in bright red. Shit. This is not good. If the cut is that deep…

I can already feel the bandages that I had so carefully wrapped around my chest starting to come loose.

Matt grabs my arm. "Come on, Mell. We have to get you to the hospital wing. That looks really serious."

"Wait!" I scream out. Matt freezes, my arm still held tightly in his grip, and turns around to look at me. My mind races to find an excuse. "If they ask about what happened-"

If they try to examine me, everyone will find out. Everyone will know the truth. I'll be expelled.

Matt tugs my arm again. "We'll just tell them we were running late for class and you slipped off the garden wall or something. We have to get going. Who knows how deep that thing could be?"

I tilt my head and clutch at the fabric of my shirt, trying as hard as I possibly can not to make it look like I'm holding my breasts flat against my chest. "Are you kidding? No one is going to fall for that. We have a first aid kit in the dorm, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"We can take care of this ourselves. I know how to disinfect a wound and patch it back together. If anyone finds out about this…" If anyone finds out about me…

Matt nods and pulls me to my feet. At least it was enough to convince him. I loop my arm over his shoulder and he drags me back to our dorm and stealthily as he can.

The second we arrive, I run to the bathroom and shut the door. Matt comes up to the door and knocks. "Mello? What are you doing?"

"Don't worry about me, Matt," I answer, picking at my dirty, blood-soaked shirt. "Go find the kit. I'll let you know when I need it."

I hear him sigh heavily. "Okay, fine. But if you need my help-"

"I don't, okay?" I snap. He shuts up and ventures off into the dorm for the first aid kit. As soon as he's gone, I grit my teeth and grab the hem of my shirt. My chest burns like hell with every movement I make. Eventually I manage to get my shirt off. I throw the stupid thing in the sink. Looks like I'll never be wearing that damn thing again. I turn towards the mirror to take a look at myself.

The pale, peachy color of the ace bandages that I had wrapped around my chest is soaked red with blood. A huge hole has been torn right in the middle of everything. The binding has already started to come loose. At least it had held up until I could get away from any witnesses. I slip my fingers underneath and begin to tear apart the soaked, stained fabric. There's so much blood that the bandages are stuck to my skin. I'm going to need to get some more of these.

I finally manage to tear enough away to get a good look. The bandages come loose and fall away from my breasts. There's a huge cut in the dead center of my chest, directly above my heart. I wince. Wow. If I'd fallen any farther, I might have been killed.

I don't have any time to sit here staring at my wound. I quickly grab one of the loose bandages and tear it away from the tangled, bloody mess wrapped around my ribcage. I run the sink with cold water and rinse off the bandage. The sink stains with red as I lean over it and carefully dab at the cut, cleaning it out the best that I can. Now I just have to-

There's a knock at the door. "Mello? I found the stuff. Can I come in?"

Damn it. Matt's back. I should have known that he would want to help me. Sometimes I really wished that he didn't care so much. He knocks again. "Mello, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I stare at the wet strip of bandage that I'd dropped in the sink. "Just hand me the stuff. I can take care of the rest myself."

"Mello, you could be seriously hurt. I really think you shouldn't be doing this yourself."

I reach for the doorknob and try to hold it still. I can't let him in here. If he sees me like this, I'm screwed. "Really, Matt. This is me we're talking about. I'm pretty sure I can manage on my own."

He pushes against the door. "Mello, come on. Why do you have to be like this all the time?"

"Matt, don't come in here!" I cry out, forgetting about excuses. "I'm serious! Just give me the stuff and leave me alone. I'll be fine."

"Why?" Matt shouts back, trying to turn the doorknob. I grip it harder to hold it still. "You don't have to be so embarrassed. This is stupid. Just let me in and I'll help you out."

"No!" I press my shoulder against the door and wince in pain. The door shakes and I get sent flying backwards. I slam against the sink and hear the latch of the door click open. It's too late. I clutch at the remains of my bandages and pull them tightly around my in a desperate attempt to cover up my chest. The door swings open and I look up, eyes wide and shaking uncontrollably.

Matt is standing in the doorway, holding a small peroxide bottle and a box of butterfly closures. He freezes, his eyes locked on me. I can't do anything but stare back. The peroxide and box of closures fall to the floor. His mouth falls open and he stares at me in disbelief.

"Matt…" I choke out, feeling my body slowly going numb.

"M- Mello… You… what…" he stutters, staring at me as if he's hallucinating.

"I can explain," I whimper. "Just, please… don't freak out."


End file.
